A mighty man was Beltane the Smith, despite his youth already great of stature and comely of feature. Much knew he of woodcraft, of the growth of herb and tree and flower, of beast and bird, and how to tell each by its cry or song or flight; he knew the ways of fish in the streams, and could tell the course of the stars in the heavens; versed was he likewise in the ancient wisdoms and philosophies, both Latin and Greek, having learned all these things from him whom men called Ambrose the Hermit. But of men and cities he knew little, and of women and the ways of women, less than nothing, for of these matters Ambrose spake not. . . .

Author Biography

Jeffery Farnol (1878 - 1952) was a British writer from 1907 until his death, known for writing more than 40 romance novels, some formulaic and set in the Georgian Era or English Regency period and swashbucklers. He, with Georgette Heyer, largely initiated the Regency romantic genre. Farnol published his first romance novel My Lady Caprice during 1907. The success of his early novels caused Farnol to become a professional writer. He produced about 40 novels and volumes of stories and some non-fiction and children's books. His last book was completed by his second wife Phyllis. Two of his early books, The Amateur Gentleman and The Broad Highway, have been issued in a version edited by romance novelist Barbara Cartland. The Amateur Gentleman was adapted for British cinema as 1920 and 1936, American cinema as 1926.